Luke 6:39-49
A Good Spiritual Leader
We are concluding Jesus’ sermon. Even spending three weeks looking at
it, we are only grazing on the surface. This sermon is similar to but
different from the Sermon on the Mount. I believe it was given at a
different time, at a different place, and directed to a different
audience.
This event started with Jesus praying all night to the Father. Then
He picked 12 to be His apostles, and finally, He preached to the
multitudes but with His eyes on the men whom He had called to lead
the church.
In this sermon, Jesus made three main points:
Luke 6:17-26-They need not expect life to be comfortable.
Luke 6:27-38-They need not expect to be vindicated in this life.
Luke 6:39-49-They need to be good spiritual leaders.
Let me say that Jesus was not interested in just making good leaders
but good spiritual leaders. A man may be good with people, a real
motivator, a visionary, a great fund raiser, an organizer, and all the
rest but God won’t use him unless he has a heart for Him.
I. \\#39\\ Good spiritual leaders must see.
Luke 6: 39 And he spake a parable unto them, Can
the blind lead the blind? shall they not both
fall into the ditch?
A. Jesus was not speaking of physical sight in these verses but
spiritual sight.
1. People are easily offended today so we need to note that
this is a parable, an earthly story with a heavenly
meaning.
2. Sadly, in Jesus’ day as in ours, there were plenty of
people with visual problems. The multitude of their
numbers made them a common vehicle to illustrate
spiritual blindness.
3. The heavenly meaning in this verse is that blind people
do not make good guides.
a. This was Jesus’ theme throughout this portion of the
message.
b. Interestingly, this part of the parable is not
recorded in the more detailed Sermon on the Mount of
Matthew 5-8, because Jesus was speaking more to the
sheep here than to the shepherds.
c. However, Matthew will record it in \\#Matt 15:14\\.
(1) That is a just after Jesus had taught the
multitudes and His disciples had warned Jesus
that He had upset the Pharisees \\#Matt 15:12\\.
(2) Jesus then described the Pharisees as bad leaders
because they were blind leaders attempting to
lead blind followers.
B. God’s shepherds do not want to be blind leaders. Why not?
1. Blind leaders cannot see where THEY are going.
a. Here, Jesus was not talking of the visually impaired
but of the visually BLIND.
b. A person who can see can get something in his eye
which hinders his vision but a person who can’t see
is not just hindered. He is totally blind.
c. Jesus was not talking about the backslidden here but
the lost who cannot see at all.
(1) Lost people do not make good spiritual leaders.
(2) And why? Because they cannot see where they are
going!
d. Jesus had one apostle that was blind. Which one?
Judas. Judas made a terrible guide for others. Why?
(1) Judas could not see where he was going.
(2) Where are he going? To hell.
(3) Where are all blind spiritual guides going? To
hell.
2. Blind leaders can’t see to guide others.
a. Where were the blind leaders going? To hell.
b. Where do they lead their followers?
(1) To the same place.
(2) The same ditch that the blind leaders fall into
is the ditch they lead their followers into.
(3) This is so sad.
i. There are many good people who directly and
indirectly express their religious views.
ii. The Shirley McClaines, the Oprah Winfreys,
the Tom Cruises - I am sure they are nice
people but they are as lost as a goose and
those they influence with the fame and
charm will go to the same hell they
themselves will go to.
c. Our world only seems interested in listening to
preachers they say sin is all right.
(1) Any preacher who condones sin is not proving the
Word is wrong.
(2) He’s proving he/she can’t see.
3. A blind person cannot see his leader is blind until they
both fall into the ditch.
a. That is a shame but it is also a reality.
b. Lost people can’t discern lost preachers.
(1) To the lost, their lost leader is as good or
even better a guide than any saved pastor.
(2) Most will not discover the truth until both the
follower and the his leader are in hell.
c. What can we do about that? We can preach the truth
and pray for the conviction of the Holy Ghost.
(1) Don’t make a ministry of attacking false leaders.
(a) Attacking the blind leaders will not do much
good and may do a lot of harm.
(b) Smearing the false prophet—even with
truth—usually serves to rally and fortify
his followers behind him/her.
(c) It is better to take the Bible and show the
blind follower what God really said.
(2) Preach the truth.
(3) Live the holy and changed life.
(4) Pray and let God the Holy Ghost do His work.
II. Good spiritual leaders must keep their vision cleared.
Luke 6: 41 And why beholdest thou the mote that
is in thy brother’s eye, but perceivest not the
beam that is in thine own eye?
42 Either how canst thou say to thy brother,
Brother, let me pull out the mote that is in
thine eye, when thou thyself beholdest not the
beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite,
cast out first the beam out of thine own eye, and
then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote
that is in thy brother’s eye.
A. \\#41-42\\ Jesus changed the topic from the spiritually blind
to the visually impaired.
1. Jesus began to talk about the fellow with the timber in
his eye trying to help the guy with a splinter in his.
2. With that change, Jesus switched who He was talking about.
a. The blind are the lost attempting to lead the lost in
spiritual paths.
b. The fellow with the beam in his eye is saved and
seeing but visually, or sinfully, impaired.
(1) Jesus has gone from talking about lost spiritual
leaders to backslidden spiritual leaders.
(2) The fact that Jesus mentioned backslidden
spiritual leaders in the same context as blind
spiritual leaders should give us an indication
of how much God thinks a backslidden spiritual
leader is worth.
(3) A backslidden spiritual leader with a 2x4 of sin
in his eye is no better than a blind spiritual
leader when it comes to helping those with
spiritual problems.
B. \\#42\\ Jesus used two Greek words to describe what was
in the eyes of these visually impaired men.
1. He inquired as to how a spiritual leader with a "beam"
in his eye was going to remove a "mote" out of the
eye of another.
2. A "mote" is a piece of straw or small splinter.
3. A "beam" is a piece of timber, like a 2x4.
4. So Jesus was asking how can a spiritual leader remove
even a small sliver out of someone else’s eye when
he is walking around with a wood beam in his.
5. The answer is, "He cannot."
6. The backslidden leader is useless in his capacity even
to help in the smallest spiritual matters of others.
7. The point is it doesn’t matter if you are blind or just
spiritually impaired. You can’t be a good spiritually
leader if you cannot see.
8. This leads to another important truth.
C. The fact that a spiritual leader HAS SEEN does not mean he
IS seeing.
1. Spiritual leaders need regular eye exams.
a. They need to check their own hearts for sin.
b. They need to be held accountable by their church.
(1) A church should not "rule over" their pastor but
neither should they allow him free reign.
(2) Make sure he can still see God and God’s things.
2. Remember what blinds.
a. Sin. Sin can get a preacher just like it can get any
one else.
b. But if the church is made up of spiritual, seeing
Christians; you should be able to detect it in your
pastor’s life.
c. When you see it, with love and concern, go help him.
3. Help your preacher keep the timbers out of his eyes so
that he can help you keep the motes out of yours.
D. Thankfully, to be sinfully impaired does not have to be
permanently disability.
Luke 6:42 …Thou hypocrite, cast out first the
beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou
see clearly to pull out the mote that is in thy
brother’s eye.
(1) Get the sin out of your life and your vision will clear.
(2) Your vision can be repaired. Just deal with the sin.
(3) Until you do, you cannot help others.
III. \\#43-45\\ Good spiritual leaders bring forth good fruit.
A. While no one is perfect, not all people are trying to teach
others how to live.
1. That is not to say that you are not influencing people
because whether you intend to do so or not, everyone
does.
2. However, those who are going to obey God and lead others,
must have a life that backs it up.
B. The singular tell of a person’s heart, any person, is the
person’s actions.
1. If you want to find out what a person thinks of you, watch
what they do. (It is amazing to me that some people date
people who treat them so badly!)
2. That is even more true of a person who leads in the
spiritual.
a. \\#45\\ Listen to what they say.
Luke 6:45 …for of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh.
(1) A spiritual leader who won’t preach the Word is
no spiritual leader.
(2) In my opinion, one who is vulgar, harsh, or
dictatorial is little better.
(3) One whose doctrine does not line up with the
Word might have the right spirit but still is
not qualified to lead in spiritual matters.
b. Watch what they do.
Luke 6:43 For a good tree bringeth not forth
corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit.
(1) The only thing that cleans the corrupt is Christ
and the cleanness of Christ cannot long be
corrupted.
(2) Sooner or later, the heart will reveal itself.
1Jo 2:19 They went out from us, but they were
not of us; for if they had been of us, they
would no doubt have continued with us: but they
went out, that they might be made manifest that
they were not all of us.
3. By the way, Christ never tells us to "test" another’s
heart.
a. The Pharisees took it upon themselves to "test" Jesus
by setting traps for Him.
b. Some "Christians" want to test other "Christians" by
trying to ensnare them.
(1) God’s people are never to be the FLOWLER.
(a) That is the devil’s job and he needs no help
from us.
(b) Indeed, I would not want to give it to him
even if he did.
(2) Neither are we to be hoping for someone’s
failure.
c. What Jesus was teaching is that in honest, everyday
trials—with the support of others—the heart will
reveal itself.
d. Just watch.
C. People are quick to condemn Christians as judges, especially
other Christians; however, Jesus’ sermon demands it.
1. God never wants us to give a "holier-than-thou," "stick-
your-finger-in-someone’s-nose," heartless, self-
righteous condemnation.
2. God does want us to look and see how we and our spiritual
leaders live and to determine whether they are leading
us in the right path or not.
3. If the Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus are not working
for the one who is doing the leading, it is time for a
new leader.
IV. \\#46-49\\ Good spiritual leaders must be good spiritual
followers.
A. This is how Jesus closed out the Sermon on the Mount.
1. That sermon was primarily to the people.
2. This one is primarily to the Apostles.
3. In both cases, we are to be followers of Jesus Christ and
the Word.
B. How can we be spiritual in any sense of the word and not obey
the Lord?
Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do
not the things which I say?
C. And how can we hope to stand in a hard, tumultuous world
without standing on the foundation of God’s Word?
D. The short answer to both questions is, "We can’t."
God may not call you to pastor or take a position teaching or
handling the Word, but God calls us all to be shepherds to others.
That is never the issue. The issue is, "Will you be a good spiritual
shepherd or a bad one?" Jesus wants you to be a good one.
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